Wisconsin & Southern’s Horicon-Janesville, Wis., road freight passes Lima Center, Wis. Watco is acquiring a majority interest in the Milwaukee-based regional. Andy Cummings PITTSBURG, Kan. — Shortline conglomerate Watco Cos. has announced it will buy a majority interest in Milwaukee-based regional Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co. Current W&S President William Gardner will remain president even as […]
WASHINGTON – Amtrak announced to employees yesterday that it would be offering buyouts to employees not covered by labor agreements. In a special employee advisory, Amtrak said starting next week it would be offering non-agreement employees a Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment in order “to better allocate its resources and align the structure of the company […]
High speed rail headlines from Trains News Wire News: Wisconsin legislature funds ‘Hiawatha’ projects, July 19, 2011 News: House passes bill to rescind high speed rail funds, July 18, 2011 News: California may bypass Tehachapis on high speed rail route, May 5, 2011 News: Illinois wins Florida high speed rail money, May 5, 2011 News: […]
RENO, Nev. — At 11:19 a.m. Pacific Time Friday, a tractor-trailer gravel truck traveling at a high rate of speed on U.S. 95 at Ocala, Nev., about 70 miles east of Reno, barreled into the side of the westbound California Zephyr. The truck struck the left-hand side of the Zephyr behind the two locomotives and […]
SANTA FE, N.M. — Santa Fe Southern has left the historic Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe depot in the city under duress after 18 years of keeping its headquarters there. The city ordered the railroad out so it can open a visitor’s center to welcome passengers arriving on the New Mexico Rail Runner Express. A […]
ST. LOUIS — Anheuser-Busch will continue to receive rail service after its rail subsidiary, the Manufacturers Railway, shuts down. FTRL Railway has won the contract to provide local operation to the brewery. Anheuser-Busch ceased shipping beer by rail last month, leaving Manufacturers only six to seven daily inbound carloads. That wasn’t enough for it to […]
ST. LOUIS — The Manufacturers Railway has asked the federal government for permission to cease service over all its lines. The railroad, which was formed in 1887, handles shipments to and from its owner, Anheuser-Busch. The company operates two lines: the one-mile “Brewery Line” to Anheuser-Busch, and the 2.6-mile First Street line, which historically served […]
ZURICH, Switzerland — The engineer that was operating the Glacier Express when it crashed last summer has been convicted of negligence and homicide, Swiss Info has reported. One Japanese tourist died in the crash and 40 were injured. Investigators say the crash occurred at a point where the line’s speed limit jumps from 22 mph […]
WASHINGTON — In late February, the Transportation Security Administration took over the Amtrak station in Savannah, Ga., and thoroughly searched every person who entered. None of the passengers got into trouble, but the TSA certainly did — big time. Amtrak Police Chief John O’Connor said he first thought a blog posting about the incident was […]
HINTON, Alta. — Twenty-five years to the day after one of Canada’s deadliest train crashes, the Edmonton Sun published the account of one of the heroes of the day. Ken Cuttle saved himself and two passengers by breaking the glass of a dome car and escaping before the car exploded in fire. On Feb. 8, […]
NEWTON, N.J. — Jim Boyd, an influential railroad photographer, book author, and longtime editor of Railfan & Railroad magazine, died Dec. 31, 2010. Boyd was born in Dixon, Ill., in 1941, and grew up watching steam engines on the nearby Illinois Central. He attended the University of Illinois and the Layton School of Art in […]
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. — CSX has removed the last semaphore signals from service on its Monon Subdivision in northwestern Indiana. The line was one of the final bastions for the signals anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. The final “blade” to fall, located at milepost 147.1 at North Crawfordsville, came down Tuesday. CSX is replacing the […]
